The glow in this Halloween punch isn’t a photography trick. It naturally comes from the bitter alkaloid quinine, which also gives tonic water its characteristic bitterness. Because the quinine in the tonic is UV reactive, it will glow an eerie (but edible!) blue when exposed to a standard black light. But it does take a good amount of tonic to get a nice bright glow: Our test kitchen found that tonic water had to make up at least 50 percent of the volume in the recipe. To balance that bitterness, we mixed it with sweeter pineapple juice, Cointreau, pisco, and lime juice, in a riff on Pisco Punch. And in a Martha-inspired moment, we also created glowing “severed hands” by freezing tonic water in latex gloves to give the punch an extra-creepy look and keep it cold. Make sure to place the punch bowl right underneath a couple of black lights to get the maximum luminescence.

What to buy: Pisco is a brandy distilled from South American white Muscat grapes. It can be found at well-stocked liquor stores or online.

Special equipment: You will need 2 medium or large powder-free latex gloves and 2 rubber bands to make the glowing hands.

To get the glowing effect, you will need a few black lights.

Game plan: To quickly flatten the tonic water for the severed-hand ice cubes, place it in a container and agitate until bubbly. Repeat several times until almost no bubbles remain. Alternatively, pour it into a container, loosely cover, and let sit overnight at room temperature.

The severed hands will need to freeze overnight, so be sure to make them at least 1 day before you plan to serve the punch.

  • Yield: 14 1/2 cups or 19 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 15 mins, plus freezing and chilling time
  • Active: 15 mins

Ingredients (8)

For the severed-hand ice cubes:

  • 2 medium or large powder-free latex gloves
  • 3 cups flat tonic water, such as Fever-Tree
  • 2 rubber bands

For the punch:

  • 3 cups pisco
  • 1 1/2 cups Cointreau
  • 1 1/2 cups freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 15 limes)
  • 1 1/2 cups naturally sweetened pineapple juice
  • 7 cups tonic water, such as Fever-Tree, chilled

Instructions

For the severed-hand ice cubes:

  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment or waxed paper and set aside. Fill 1 glove with about 1 1/2 cups of the flat tonic water. Squeeze out as much air as possible and close the opening of the glove tightly with a rubber band. Lay the glove flat on the prepared baking sheet and repeat with the second glove. Place in the freezer until solid, at least overnight.

For the punch:

  1. Place the pisco, Cointreau, lime juice, and pineapple juice in a 3-1/2-quart container and stir to combine. Refrigerate until chilled, about 2 to 3 hours.
  2. When ready to serve the punch, remove the severed-hand ice cubes from the freezer. Let sit about 3 to 5 minutes at room temperature to help loosen the rubber gloves. Meanwhile, add the tonic to the pisco mixture and gently stir to combine. Cut away and discard the rubber gloves (use extra care around the fingers). Place the ice-cube hands in the punch and serve underneath black lights.